Cole Carrigg of the Colorado Rockies named the National League Rookie of the Month for September; Carter Jensen of the Kansas City Royals named the American League Rookie of the Month for September

Utilityman Cole Carrigg of the Colorado Rockies has been voted the National League Rookie of the Month for September, and catcher Carter Jensen of the Kansas City Royals has been voted the American League Rookie of the Month for September. The announcements were made earlier today on MLB Network.

Carrigg won his first career award and is the 10th Rockies player to earn the honor, joining Jason Jennings (August 2002); Clint Barmes (April 2005); Garrett Atkins (June 2005); Troy Tulowitzki (August 2007); Ian Stewart (July 2008); Trevor Story (April 2016); Antonio Senzatela (April 2017); Nolan Jones (September/October 2023); and teammate TJ Rumfield (2x: May & June 2026). Carrigg’s award, along with his teammate Rumfield’s pair of awards this season, marked the first time a National League Club has received three-or-more Rookie of the Month awards in the same season since the Atlanta Braves received four in 2022. Carrigg and Rumfield joined Barmes and Atkins as the second pair of Rockies teammates to win the award in the same season, and the Rockies are now the only National League franchise to have a pair of teammates win the award in the same season on multiple occassions. Jensen also earned his first career award and became the fourth Royals rookie to garner the honor, joining Angel Berroa (July 2003); Brian Bannister (2x: June & August 2007); Billy Butler (July 2007); and Eric Hosmer (July & September 2011).

Cole Carrigg, Colorado Rockies (@colecarrigg)
The 24-year-old hit .327 (32-for-98) with six homers, 17 RBI, four doubles, a triple, a walk, 12 runs scored, a .571 slugging percentage and a .340 on-base percentage in 24 games.

The Modesto, California native tied for second in homers, ranked third in extra-base hits (11) and total bases (56); ranked fourth in hits; tied for sixth in RBI and average; ranked seventh in slugging percentage; and ranked 10th in OPS (.911) among all qualified rookies.

The second-round selection in the 2023 Draft joined Josh Rutledge (July 2012); David Dahl (August 2016); and Nolan Jones (September 2023) as the only Rockies rookies to record a month with at least 11 extra-base hits and three stolen bases while maintaining a batting average of .300-or-higher.

The switch-hitter’s 12 homers on the season are the most by a Rockies rookie switch-hitter, surpassing Jason Bates’ previous record of eight set in 1995. Carrigg became the first switch-hitting rookie to connect on 12 homers-or-more in their rookie season since Elly De La Cruz hit 13 homers during his 2023 rookie campaign with the Reds.

Carrigg produced his first career multi-homer game on September 15th against the Padres, connecting on a total of four hits, three extra-base hits, 11 total bases and five RBI, joining teammate Hunter Goodman as the only rookies in franchise history to record a game with multiple homers, 11-or-more total bases and five-or-more RBI.

Carter Jensen, Kansas City Royals (@carterjensenn)
The 23-year-old hit .338 (27-for-80) with eight homers, 20 RBI, 10 doubles, a triple, eight walks 19 runs scored, a .788 slugging percentage and a .407 on-base percentage across 21 contests.

The Kansas City, Missouri native led the Majors in slugging, OPS (1.195), doubles and extra-base hits (19); ranked second in total bases (63); tied for fourth in homers; and ranked 10th in RBI.

The third-round selection in the 2021 Draft capped off his strong month with two homers and a career-best five RBI on Friday against Cleveland, marking his third career two-homer game. He became the first Royals backstop with at least five RBI in a game since Salvador Perez on April 20, 2024, and he also became the youngest Royals player ever with five RBI in a game in which he appeared at catcher. Jensen also slugged a pair of homers on September 2nd against Miami.

The Park Hill High School (MO) product hit his 25th homer of the year on September 19th at Pittsburgh, surpassing Bob Hamelin (24 HR in 1994) for the most home runs by a Royals rookie. Additionally, he launched his sixth leadoff homer of the year on September 2nd, breaking the franchise record of five set by Johnny Damon in 1998 and matched by Alex Gordon in 2011. Per Elias, Jensen’s six leadoff homers as a catcher were the most by a player at the position in a single season since 1900. His leadoff blast marked his 20th homer of the season, becoming the 13th rookie catcher in Baseball history with at least 20 home runs and just the second left-handed hitting backstop to do so.

Jensen tallied two doubles on Saturday against Cleveland as he finished the year with 64 extra-base hits including 35 doubles, two triples and 27 homers. With his pair of game-tying two-run homers on Friday against Cleveland, he surpassed Hall of Famer Mike Piazza (61 XBH in 1993) for the most extra-base hits in a rookie season by a primary catcher since 1947.

Jensen led Kansas City with 81 RBI on the year, becoming the third rookie to lead the club in RBI, joining Hamelin (65 RBI in 1994) and Bobby Witt Jr. (80 in 2022), per Elias. His 81 RBI were third-most ever by a Royals rookie, trailing only Hall of Famer Carlos Beltrán (108 RBI in 1999) and Kevin Seitzer (83 RBI in 1987).

Others receiving votes for NL Rookie of the Month included Carrigg’s teammate, first baseman TJ Rumfield (.359, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 4 2B, 1 3B, 9 BB, 12 R, .432 OBP, .551 SLG); outfielders Carson Benge (.313, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 4 2B, 11 BB, 17 R, 3 SB, .394 OBP, .479 SLG) and A.J. Ewing (.309, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 2 2B, 10 BB, 13 R, 3 SB, .380 OBP, .481 SLG) of the New York Mets; catcher Leo Bernal (.284, 5 HR, 21 RBI, 3 2B, 7 BB, 12 R, .333 OBP, .474 SLG) of the St. Louis Cardinals; infielder Juan Brito (.309, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 2 2B, 3 BB, 6 R, 1 SB, .339 OBP, .509 SLG) of the Cincinnati Reds; starting pitchers Logan Henderson (2-1, 2.45 ERA, 4 GS, 22.0 IP. 15 H, 5 BB, 24 SO) and Robert Gasser (1-0, 1.67 ERA, 5 GS, 27.0 IP, 13 H, 10 BB, 25 SO) of the first-seeded NL Central Champion Milwaukee Brewers; and catcher Rafael Flores (.313, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 3 2B, 5 BB, 6 R, .361 OBP, .537 SLG) of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Others receiving votes for AL Rookie of the Month included outfielder Henry Bolte (.304, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 4 2B, 1 3B, 14 BB, 18 R, 7 SB, .413 OBP., 533 SLG) of the Athletics and outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. (.355, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 5 2B, 1 3B, 7 BB, 17 R, 3 SB, .410 OBP, .605 SLG) of the first-seeded AL East Champion Tampa Bay Rays.